Arrows down Eagles

Aberdeen Central's Reid Fust, right, tries to get out of the grasp of Watertown's Jon Turbak, left, during Friday night's game at Swisher Field. photo by john davis taken 9/17/2010

Watertown jumped out to a fast start and Aberdeen Central was slow to get rolling. The visiting Arrows led 19-0 at halftime and went on to a 25-7 win over Central on Friday at Swisher Field in an Eastern South Dakota Conference high school football game. Watertown, the fifth-ranked team in Class 11AA this week, remained undefeated at 4-0. The Arrows converted a key fourth down play in each of their first two possessions and scored to take an early 13-0 lead. I have to give credit to our kids for the good start in the game, said Watertown coach Scott Leitheiser. It's a road trip but they were aggressive right from the start. In the first possession, the Arrows faced fourth and one yard to go on the Central 46-yard line in the sixth play of the drive. Jon Turbak bulled ahead for two years and a first down. After two more runs by quarterback Patrick Schuster, the Arrows went to the air. Schuster connected on a 39-yard scoring pass to Reid Siegling who had slipped behind the defense. After the Golden Eagles ran three plays and punted, Watertown launched into a 15 play and 80-yard scoring drive by mixing the running and passing games. Facing fourth down and 20 yards to go Schuster completed a 20-yard pass to Siegling for a first down. We try to make the team over commit to either the run or the pass and then we go in the other direction, said Leitheiser. Our kids are starting to get the hang of the system. It's been a long process but they're starting to feel comfortable with it. I think things are going pretty well. The Arrows scored three plays later on a five-yard pass from Schuster to Collin Schull. With 10 minutes remaining in the second quarter Watertown led 13-0 and the Golden Eagles only had three plays for eight yards. Central moved the football on its next possession but was stopped on fourth down when quarterback Ryley Waiflein was sacked for a loss. They really got us with some pressure, said Central coach Mike Flakus. We missed some opportunities. We ran a screen early and got good yards. We probably should have come back to it. In the second half they didn't blitz us so we didn't have to use screens. They got after our quarterback more than anyone else has. Watertown scored its third touchdown of the first half after an interception by Kirk Gilbertson. who returned it to the Central four-yard line. Ryan Engels rumbled to a touchdown on a one-yard run and a 19-0 Watertown lead. We weren't that far off, said Flakus. We made some mistakes. We had a penalty that hurt us. We had a broken coverage that hurt us. It's 19 to nothing at halftime and we blew a really good scoring opportunity. In the game we didn't much accomplished either offensively or defensively. We're just going to keep fighting. Central's passing game picked up a little speed in the second half and the Eagles got on the scoreboard with seven minutes left in the game. A short punt by Watertown gave the Eagles the ball on the Arrows 42-yard line. On the third play of the drive Waiflein connected with Reid Fust on a 30-yard touchdown pass. Waiflein completed 10 of 24 passes for 135 yards in the game. Fust had four receptions for 74 yards and Alex Ruelas added four catches for 55 yards. For Watertown, Schuster rushed for 69 yards and passed for 76. We had two touchdown called back because of penalties and those things will cost you, said Leitheiser. For the most part it's probably the cleanest we've been as far as blocking for the run. Aberdeen Central returns to action on Friday at Mitchell. Watertown (4-0, 3-0) 7 12 6 0-25 Aberdeen Central (1-3, 1-2) 0 0 0 7- 7 First Quarter W - Tanner Siegling 39 pass from Patrick Schuster (Kyle Thomas kick), 7:22. Second Quarter W - Collin Schull 5 pass from Schuster (snap fumbled no kick), 10:24. W -Ryan Engels 1 run (run failed), 4:06. Third Quarter W - Schuster 20 run (pass failed), 7:50. Fourth Quarter AC - Reid Fust 30 pass from Ryley Waiflein (Chris Bobzien kick), 7:00. WHS ACHSFirstdownsÉ16 9Rushes-yardsÉ48-164 19-25PassingÉ88 144Comp-Att-IntÉ5-13-0 11-30-2Punts-Avg.É3-36.6 3-32.3Fumbles-LostÉ1-1 0-0Penalties-YardsÉ4-30 6-46 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING-Watertown, Schuster 17-69, Engels 11-37, Jon Turbak 11-49, Adam Fjeldheim 2-12; Central, Adam Scherr 4-20. PASSING-Watertown, Patrick Schuster 4-10-0 for 76, Fjeldheim 1-3-0 for 8; Central, Waiflein 10-24-2 for 135, Roman Orr 1-6-0 for 9. RECEIVING-Watertown, Siegling 3-72, Engels 1-7, Schull 1-5, Alex Renner 1-4; Central, Alex Ruelas 4-55, Fust 4-74, Mitchell Babcock 2-14. Aberdeen Central's Reid Fust, right, tries to get out of the grasp of Watertown's Jon Turbak Friday night at Swisher Field. American News Photos by John Davis Central's Alex Ruelas, right, tries to tackle Watertown's Tanner Siegling as Siegling runs to the end zone on a first half pass play.